Results tagged ‘ Jermaine Dye ’

How’s everyone doing??Last week was a great first week in Arizona. I had a few minutes, so I thought it was
a good time to answer some more of your questions …

Q: Ozzie, given (Bobby Jenks’) departure and the “closer” job being up for grabs, how do you feel about the Sabremetrics view that the closer’s role
is not practical. Outs are outs, and if you rely on a “closer” to get
outs when you need them to win the game, why not use them in a crucial
situation earlier? Would you/have you consider(ed) using a “closer”
early in the game? Why not send out the best guy for the job irrelevant of
their relief-pitcher label?— Matt M. (Plainfield, Ill.)

A: You know, I have never felt comfortable doing that before because I
have never done it. I feel like
everyone has a role on the team and I trust the guys in front of the closer to
get the job done.

Q: Ozzie, I grew up watching you play with “La Guerilla” of the
Tiburones de La Guaira … but I was a Leones fan. Great rivalry in those
days. The question: Who is, in
your opinion, the next Venezuelan Hall of Famer? (I say Vizquel.)— Ricardo S. (Ann
Arbor, Mich.)

A:Omar Vizquel; I agree
with you.

Q: Why has the Caribbean Series gone down as far as competition? Why do you think that is?— Jose S. (Guarenas, Venezuela)

A: The Caribbean Series has gone down in terms of competition level because there are a lot of players that they don’t let play. Also, before they would pay players to go to the Caribbean Series, but now everybody has money. (hahaha)

Q: Whats up, Ozzie! Lets take the division and make some noise in the
playoff this year, papa! Baseball is a long season, sort of like going all 12
rounds in boxing. Who are some of your favorite boxers?— Octavio G. (Southside
Chicago)

A:Thank you, we will
try. Julio Ceasar Chavez, Roberto
Duran, Sugar Ray Leonard and Muhammad Ali.I also like Angel Zanoa, who as a 13-year-old kid beat the crap out of me; I will never forget it! (hahaha)

Q: Hey, Oz, great job with getting the site up. Do you think (Paul Konerko) has a legit chance at the HOF? Why or why not? — Mike C. (Schaumburg, Ill.)

A:I think he has a shot
because you will not see any players anymore with 600 home runs getting in.You will see players who did it clean
getting in with less home runs, so I definitely think he has a chance.

Q: How do you feel about the pitch counts? Players like (Nolan) Ryan or (Steve) Carlton, etc., never worried about pitch counts and completed games and did
well. Do you think that maybe pitchers now don’t get the arm strength because
they are not allowed to pitch past a certain count? — Paul D. (Washington, Kan.)

A: I do believe in pitch
counts because of the endurance of the pitcher.Back in the day, I don’t know what those guys were made of (Iron and steel, maybe? I don’t know.) but it was very impressive.

Q: Hey, Ozzie, I’m really looking forward to this season. I know it’s
going to be great. My question is: What do you do after you get ejected from a
game?— Andrew H. (McHenry, Ill.)

A:I go take a nap or
watch some Spanish soap operas.I
don’t watch the games — maybe once in a while when I hear the fans screen to see
what is going on. And, of course, I
do all of this while eating some popcorn.

Q: Hey, Ozzie. … What is your greatest memory while playing Winter League ball with the Tiburones de La Guaira? Who was your best friend inside the team? Tons of luck in the upcoming season! Regards.— Carlos T. (Valencia, Venezuela)

A:Thank you!My best memory was playing for “La
Guerilla” in the 80’s, and my best friend was Gus Polidor. May he rest in peace.

Q: What’s up, Ozzie! Have you kept in contact with our World Series MVP, Jermaine Dye? He was a heck of a ballplayer for the White Sox. Was there ever a
thought of bringing him back as part of the coaching staff?— Octavio G.
(Chicago)

A:Yes, man, JD is my boy; I love him and his family.To be a
coach, you need to have desire and passion for coaching, and I’m not sure JD has
that. You also need to be very
vocal, and I’m not sure JD wants to coach yet.

Thank God that the month of May is over! Even though we closed the month playing the way we all think we can, the truth is that the first few weeks of May were terrible. Too much inconsistency, too many ups and downs. One day we can look like the best team in the world and the next game we can look like an average one.

But all that is in the past. At this moment each player is doing his job, and the result is we have won four straight series, including two important ones against teams in our division, the Minnesota Twins and the Kansas City Royals.

There are still about 100 games left and every indication is that the division will come down to the wire. Nobody is going to give up easily. That is why the key to staying in the race and winning the title is consistency. I ask the fans to keep supporting the team, because we have a good team and they are trying their hardest on the field to win.

Now let’s answer some questions:

Orelvis Montero, Fernando del Pino, Juan Guillén, Guillermo Vázquez and Alexis Romero are among those that are suggesting that Alexei Ramirez’s moving to shortstop from second base where he played in 2008 is the reason for his slow start this season.

I think Alexei is a great hitter and he showed it last season. But this is the Major Leagues where the advanced scouts send in their reports and the pitchers go over videos in order to find weaknesses in each hitter. That is why the hitters also need to make adjustments, which is what he wasn’t doing. The worst part was that Alexei was taking his offensive worries out to the field and it was affecting his defense. He even admitted that the couple games he sat on the bench helped him find his rhythm. His average is going up and his production has been vital to our winning streak of late.

Viciedo is playing in Double A with the Birmingham Barons and is having a good season. At the time I am writing this he is hitting around .260. During Spring Training, I was able to confirm with my own eyes that the kid could hit, but as it is to be expected, he needs to play some games in order to develop his potential.

Like I said in Arizona and I´ll repeat it here, players like Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter had to play in the minors in order to get better. That is what Dayan is doing: playing every day for when he comes to the big club he is ready to contribute to the team. Will he be ready this season? I don´t know, but the organization is counting on him.

First off, I think this situation will change pretty soon, because in the last three years we have made an effort to sign more young Venezuelan talent. There are some names that keep popping up like Gregory Infante, Eduardo Escobar, José Alberto “Cafecito” Martínez, who unfortunately has been hampered with injuries, in addition to players like Miguel González, Jerry Puente and others.

One of the first things I did after I became manager was to convince the front office to invest more resources (time and budget) in Latin America. The tendency had been to find young talent in the Dominican Republic, where there are talented youngsters, but now, Amador Arias is doing a great job scouting Venezuela and the fruits of his efforts will soon be seen.

One of our readers, Carlos Graterol suggests that one of the solutions to the problems we had have in the leadoff spot is Endy Chavez. Endy is a great friend of mine and is an excellent hitter, but I don’t think the Mariners will give him up very easily.

Ramón Antonio Obando asks if it is true that I was thrown out of a game for arguing balls and strikes against the other team. Yes, it was something like that. I was thrown out after umpire Mike DiMuro called a strike on a pitch to Jhonny Peralta, the shortstop of the Indians, which was low. An inning earlier he had thrown out Jermaine Dye for arguing a called third strike. I was trying to explain to the umpire that his inconsistency was affecting the game.

Quiterio Henriquez, Raúl Fernández, José Sequera and Alfredo Uga asks why the White Sox don’t play more “Caribbean baseball,” which is what we Latinos call the style of play which emphasizes more of stealing bases, bunts and hit and runs. We are on the way to that style. I am convinced we will see more “Caribbean baseball” now that there isn’t artificial power in the game.

The end of the steroid age is going to force teams to be more creative when scoring runs and we are slowly trying to build a team that is based on power, speed, consistent pitching and good defense. This year, the injuries have limited what we have been able to do, but we are on our way.

Israel Díaz Ramos writes to ask my opinion on the political situation in Venezuela, while Ruben Cadiz Henriquez tells me: “to stick with sports, zero politics.” In the column I write for El Universal (Venezuela) I have touched on political issues pertaining to Venezuela more than once.

Gilberto Sandrea writes: “Will we be lucky enough to see Ozzie Guillén as the coach of Venezuela during the next World Baseball Classic?”

Gilberto, if that happens it’s because I have been fired as manager of the White Sox, since the rules of that event prohibit the participation of Major League managers.

That gives me the opportunity to answer an email from Jesus Rodriguez, who asks me to also publish and respond to negative comments and not only the positive ones. Fortunately, the only negative comment I have received up until now has been yours. Jesus says that I am a bad manager and that I will soon be fired. If that happens, like Jesus predicts, then perhaps I can be the manager of the Venezuelan team, but until that happens, my contract runs until 2012.

Javier Rosario and Martín Ramos ask why we haven’t signed Pedro Martinez to bolster our starting pitching staff. I remind both of them that the job of signing players is that of the general manager, Kenny Williams, who tried his hardest to land Jake Peavy, who would have been a big help. The pitching staff worries are also shared by Jose Hernandez who says we “should find one or two pitchers in the open market that will provide some consistency.” As many of you have gathered that is not very easy since every team is looking for the same, but I am sure that Kenny is on the lookout for ways to help the White Sox get better.

Williams Rodriguez asks if the White Sox would be interested in a hitter like Barry Bonds. Honestly, no. At the present time that is not we are looking for.

Carlos Armando Cheluja asks what is said when a manager visits the mound. First, let me tell you what is not said. We don’t tell him to throw strikes, since obviously that is what he is trying to do. If the idea is to keep him in the ballgame, the first thing is to ask how he is feeling, and after that I alert him to who is coming up in the lineup, who is more difficult of a matchup, that type of stuff. But in general, when the manager goes out to the mound it is to take the pitcher out of the game, and in that case it is better to let him talk to try and convince you to leave him in. In reality, the most interesting conversations are the ones between the pitchers and the pitching coach.

There are a lot of other interesting questions that I would love to respond to, but it is impossible because there are so many. I would like to thank everyone for their positive comments, analysis and suggestions. Some of those are of great use to me.

I will wrap this up without send out a big hello to Enrique “Quique” Germán, 13, who writes from Hermosillo, Mexico, and expresses his confidence in the White Sox. Thanks to you and your family for your support.

In two weeks I will be back again responding to your questions and comments.

First off, I would like to thank everyone who took a few minutes of their time to send me their questions, opinions, congratulations and criticisms through this page. I am sure that this exchange between you and me will be very productive. In this second column I will respond to a couple of questions that were sent my way. I will also respond to a couple of comments that were made about the team, which, truthfully, is going through a tough time.

I am still optimistic, as are my players, and I think that at any moment now we will combine good pitching, with timely hitting and solid defense, to get back on track. Up until now that hasn’t happened with the consistency we would like. Miguel Monges asks if it is possible to be able to finish in first place even though we have started the season with so many injuries. It’s true Miguel, that when we put a team together in Spring Training, the last thing we think of is losing so many key pieces due to injury. In 2004, my first year as manager, we lost our third and fourth spot hitters because of injuries in the middle of season and that ended any dreams we had of the postseason. It wasn’t impossible, but it was really hard to score runs without Magglio Ordonez and Frank Thomas in the lineup. That’s why I always say one of the most important things is to stay healthy, especially because of the 162-game schedule we play.

Luis Angel Rodriguez asks that I keep a consistent lineup “as much as possible!” You are right Angel, that is the best scenario, but it’s not always possible because of injuries and the rest that some players that play almost every day need to get. When you have the goal of winning the World Series, you know that that effort will require an additional 11 wins in October, and it’s impossible to reach that goal without your key players in good condition and that means giving them a break from time to time. Additionally, losing your leadoff hitter because of injury during the first week of the season has forced us to experiment with different things in order to get each player in a spot where they will be productive. It hasn’t been easy, but I am confident that we will have a set lineup soon.

Fernando Bosch, Rafael Castro and Sergio Villareal are just some of you that have asked about Jose Contreras. Honestly, I have to tip my cap to him for his professionalism. If before I respected him as a player because of his work ethic and enthusiasm, now I admire and respect him even more after the way he has handled the start of the season. Nobody thought that he would be ready before July or August, but he arrived in Arizona in great shape. Perhaps his rehab wasn’t complete and we rushed in getting him back in the starting rotation. It was his own idea to go down to the minors to work on his mechanics and that is admirable and worth my respect. Anyone else might have stayed at home enjoying his guaranteed money. Contreras went to Charlotte to work because he wants to come back and help his team. I am sure that will happen, too.

Cristóbal Silva reminds me that we need a consistent leadoff hitter that doesn’t get hurt. It’s true Cristobal, and if you know where to find one, let me know and we’ll pick him up tomorrow!

Juan Moreno asks how I am going to get the White Sox to play my style if we have a team of sluggers. This season we added some speed to the lineup with players like Dewayne Wise and Chris Getz to add to Alexei Ramirez and Carlos Quentin in order to let make us more aggressive on the base paths. Also, Josh Fields will add youth and power. Up until now, the injuries and low production hasn’t let us be more aggressive, but I am confident that we will be able to add the youth to the power and experience of players like Jermaine Dye, Paul Konerko and A.J. Pierzynski and score some runs.

Smery Cortez and Carmelo Salazar have asked if Freddy Garcia is in our plans. A healthy Freddy Garcia, without a doubt, can help us a lot; I know better than most of his talent and what his is capable of doing in big games. Unfortunately, Freddy hasn’t been able to get the effectiveness back in his pitches because of injuries to his shoulder. I know that he is working hard and, personally, I hope he can soon get back to form because we are also great friends. The ultimate decision of his signing, though, would be the responsibility of our GM, Kenny Williams.

I’d also like to respond to Martin Quintero, who says ‘he has heard’ that my son was signed by the White Sox without being a good player, because I forced the team to do it, and that because of that we didn’t sign better players.

Martin, if you believe everything you hear you will end up going crazy. First off, I can say, that despite my excellent relationship with Jerry Reinsdorf, I don’t have the power to impose my wishes on this organization. My job has nothing to do with signing players.

Oney Robert, the son you are referring to, was signed in the 36th round of the 2007 draft because there were people in this organization that thought he had enough talent to be a professional baseball player, and I assure you that he didn’t take anyone else’s spot. As a father, I supported him just like any father would. It wasn’t going to be me that squashed his aspirations of being a Major League Baseball player, especially for a person who has been surrounded his whole life by baseball and the Majors. He was born in January of 1986, a few weeks after I was awarded the 1985 American League Rookie of the Year Award. He decided this year to let go of his dreams of being a Major Leaguer, but his talents now are being put to work in an office job. I think his two years as a professional baseball player was a good experience and that it will help him grow as a person.

I would love to have unlimited time and space to keep answering questions, but there are way too many of them. A couple questions that don’t have anything directly to do with me will be addressed by someone in the White Sox organization. Paul LaReau asks if there are White Sox signs and photos available for him to decorate his high school classroom in Indiana, Mavel Zubia wants to know about White Sox training clinics, Francisco Eduardo Arvayo inquired about if we are planning on playing in Hermosillo, Mexico again.

Several of you also sent congratulations and good wishes which I have taken to heart. Keep writing, because I do my best to respond to all the questions. And again, thanks for your support.

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